1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to envelopes, and more particularly to remailing envelopes structured to conceal at least part of an original outgoing mailing when remailed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mailers often include envelopes for use in mailing replies. Enclosing reply envelopes can be costly with respect to excess material consumption, surplus weight, additional postage, and added time in assembling and stuffing envelopes.
Usage of envelopes constructed to serve both as an outgoing and reply mailers is advantageous in distributing information that may require remittance. To this end, remailer envelopes have been constructed with a ply having an outgoing address printed thereon and which forms a cover that extends over at least a portion of the front of the envelope to cover an underlying reply address. The cover is removable to expose the reply address. Conversely, envelopes are constructed with a front having an initial outgoing address printed thereon and a cover that is extendable over at least a portion of the front of the envelope to cover the outgoing address and expose a reply address.
Remailing envelopes are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,317, issued Jan. 21, 1986 to Richard Kranz, discloses a two-way envelope including a front panel with a window opening, and a back panel connected to the front panel. An initial seal flap extends from an upper edge of the front panel and is demarcated therefrom by a perforated tear line. A return flap extends from an upper edge of the back panel and is demarcated therefrom by a fold line. An extension having a return address thereon is integrally connected to the return flap along an extension fold line. The return flap and the extension are folded with respect to each other and placed within a pocket formed by the envelope for an initial mailing. For return mailing, the return flap and the extension are placed over the front panel with the extension covering the window opening.
Another two-way mailing envelope is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,736, issued Jul. 29, 1986 to Arthur C. Barr. This two-way mailing envelope is formed from a single blank having rectangular front and rear panels joined together along an upper fold line, and first and second closure flaps joined to the lower edges of the front and rear panels, respectively, along the lower fold lines. Mailing address indicia are provided on the front side of the envelope in a mailing address read area and a return address is provided on the front side of the envelope at level above the mailing address. During an initial mailing, the first flap is folded upwardly and sealed to the rear panel. During a re-mailing, the envelope is resealed by folding the second flap upwardly and sealing the same against the front panel so as to cover the original mailing address while leaving the return address exposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,652, issued Jun. 2, 1987 to Sylvain Sequin, discloses yet another two-way mailing envelope. The envelope disclosed by Sequin comprises a pair of panels foldably connected along one fold line extending along a bottom edge and folded over one another to form an envelope. A closure flap is foldably connected to one panel and foldable over the other panel to seal a first mailing envelope. The first mailing envelope is converted to a return mailing envelope by tearing off three edges of the mailing envelope and folding the envelope inside out. A second closure flap is provided for sealing the return mailing envelope. A configuration similar to that disclosed by Sequin above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,531, issued Dec. 29, 1987 to Russell M. Stewart et al.
A mailer including a cover sheet attached to a return address mailer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,468, issued Jul. 12, 1988 to Richard A. Jenkins. The cover sheet has an integral remittance document and a window through which an initial mail-to address label is visible. The cover sheet is separable from the return address mailer to expose the return mail-to address and the remittance document is detachable from the cover sheet for placement in the return address mailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,663, issued Mar. 30, 1993 to Michael Stude, discloses a reusable mailing envelope including a front panel, a seal flap, a rear panel opposite the seal flap, and first and second side panels, connected by fold lines. A reusable structure is connected to the rear panel along yet another fold line, including a foldable panel and a reusable closure flap which permit the envelope to be reused as a mailing envelope.
A return mailer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,062, issued Mar. 8, 1994 to Stanley C. Chess. The return mailer may be converted from an outgoing mailer to a reply mailer. The mailer includes a number of plies including a first ply having an outgoing address visible thereon, at least one insert ply, a second ply, and a third ply. A sealing agent is associated with one of the plies for sealing the plies of the reply configuration. The first ply has an outgoing address printed thereon and the second ply has a reply address printed thereon. The second ply is pivotally mounted to fold over the first ply so as to permit the reply address to be visible and render the outgoing mailing address invisible. The third ply cooperates with the sealing agent to form a reply envelope.
A continuous web of remailing envelopes which permit a rapid succession of envelopes to be prepared for mailing to an outgoing address is advantageous in preparing and distributing mass quantities of reply mail. Continuous webs of remailing envelopes are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,641, issued Jan. 5, 1971 to Leslie J. Bell et al., discloses a continuous envelope assembly including a plurality of individual envelopes interconnected and separable along a perforation line. Each envelope includes a top ply, a bottom ply secured to the top ply by means of adhesive around the periphery thereof, and an insert material housed freely between the top and bottom plies. The top and bottom plies each have control punching connected to an end thereof by a line of perforations. No adhesive is provided adjacent the control punching and the top and bottom plies. A line of perforations is provided in the top ply and a line of perforations is provided in the bottom ply spaced inwardly from an edge. The perforations cooperate with an end of the envelope to define an end portion and are provided to facilitate in the removal of the end portion to permit access to the insert material. The insert material includes a return address envelope and may include an information sheet. The envelope is provided with a projecting tab having pressure sensitive adhesive thereon and a cover strip on the pressure sensitive adhesive.
Another continuous feed mailer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,823, issued Jan. 30, 1990 to James C. Taylor. Taylor discloses a C-fold mailer including first, second, and third panels foldable about transversely extending fold lines to form a mailer with a return envelope. The second and third panels are folded together and adhesively secured along three margins and the first panel is adhesively secured along the outside face of the third panel. When folded properly, address information provided on the face of the third panel appears for display through a die-cut window in the second panel. Perforations in the first panel define a detachable panel portion which may comprise a remittance slip and a stub. The remittance slip may be inserted into the return envelope and a flap may be provided which is foldable to seal the remittance slip within therein. The mailer is further provided with marginal feed strips having tractor feed openings so as to permit a continuous web of mailers may be fed automatically.
None of the above patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.